Monitoraggio molecolare di funghi micorrizici arbuscolari in radici di Medicago sativa

I funghi micorrizici arbuscolari (AM) sono i simbionti più diffusi nel suolo ed è stato dimostrato che sono fondamentali per la crescita e la nutrizione delle piante. In questo lavoro di tesi è stata monitorata la persistenza in campo di due isolati di Glomus mosseae, IMA1 e AZ225C, introdotti come inoculo in un sito sperimentale di Medicago sativa. Lo schema sperimentale comprendeva piante inoculate con l’isolato IMA1, altre con l’isolato AZ225C e piante controllo. La regione di DNA utilizzata per lo studio è stata quella dell’rDNA nucleare comprendente una porzione di SSU, la regione ITS e parte di LSU. Per valutare la persistenza in campo sono state prelevate tre repliche di campioni di radici di M. sativa dopo il primo mese e dopo due anni dall’insorgenza delle piante inoculate con gli isolati fungini, dalle cui radici è stato estratto il DNA. Gli amplificati, ottenuti attraverso PCR con un primer universale per gli eucarioti (NS31) ed uno specifico per i Glomeromycota (LSUGlom1), sono stati clonati ed almeno 20 cloni per pianta sono stati analizzati tramite RFLP (Restriction Fragment Lenght Polymorphism). I dati di RFLP sono stati sottoposti ad elaborazioni statistiche, comprendenti analisi multivariata e “maximum parsimony analysis”. Tali analisi hanno mostrato che i patterns ottenuti differivano tra le piante inoculate con i diversi funghi e le piante controllo e che l’effetto era dovuto alla presenza degli isolati di G. mosseae IMA1 e AZ225C sia a un mese dall’insorgenza sia dopo due anni dall’inoculo

Parasitoid complex of fall armyworm, spodoptera frugiperda, in Ghana and Benin

Open Access Journal; Published online: 21 Jan 2020The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda, a moth originating from the American continent, has recently invaded most African countries, where it is seriously threatening food security as a pest of cereals. The current management methods rely heavily on the use of synthetic insecticides but there is a need for more sustainable control methods, including biological control. Surveys were conducted in two West African countries, Ghana and Benin, to determine the native parasitoid complex and assess parasitism rates of S. frugiperda. Samples of S. frugiperda eggs and larvae were collected in maize fields located in 56 and 90 localities of Ghana and Benin, respectively, from July 2018 to July 2019. Ten species were found parasitizing the pest, including two egg parasitoids, one egg–larval, five larval and two larval–pupal parasitoids. The two most abundant parasitoids in both countries were two Braconidae: the egg‐larval parasitoid Chelonus bifoveolatus and the larval parasitoid Coccygidum luteum. Parasitism rates were determined in three Ghanaian regions and averages varied from 0% to 75% between sites and from 5% to 38% between regions. These data provide an important baseline for the development of various biological control options. The two egg parasitoids, Telenomus remus and Trichogramma sp. can be used in augmentative biological control and investigations should be conducted to assess how cultural practices can enhance the action of the main parasitoids, C. luteum and Ch. bifoveolatus, in the field. Understanding the parasitoid complex of S. frugiperda in Africa is also necessary before any development of classical biological controls involving the introduction of parasitoids from the Americas

Cryopreservation of a soil microbiome using a Stirling 1 cycle approach - a genomic assessment

Soil microbiomes are dynamic systems that respond to biotic and abiotic environmental factors such as those presented at seasonal scales or due to long-term anthropogenic regime shifts. These can affect the composition and function of microbiomes. Investigation of microbiomes can uncover hidden microbial roles in health and disease and discover microbiome-based interventions. Collections of soil samples are kept by various institutions in either a refrigerated or occasionally frozen state, but conditions are not optimised to ensure the integrity of soil microbiome. In this manuscript, we describe cryopreservation with a controlled rate cooler and estimate the genomic content of an exemplar soil sample before and after cryopreservation. The first hypothesis was to test the genomic integrity of the microbiome. We also enriched the soil sample with a liquid medium to estimate the growth of bacteria and compared their growth before and after cryopreservation. Sequence-based rRNA metabarcoding was used to demonstrate that the controlled rate cooler maintains intact the DNA content of the microbiome. Two methods of cryopreservation were applied and compared with control aliquots of soil. An optimised cryopreservation of soil samples is essential for the development of microbiome research in order to retain stable, functionally intact microbiomes. Our results showed that metabarcoding of 16S and ITS rRNA were useful methods to estimate successful cryopreservation. The soil microbiome after enrichment with liquid medium exhibited a similar response of cryopreserved soil and this was estimated with the comparison of the ten most abundant bacterial taxa. These findings support a successful process of cryopreservation and are promising for future use of this technology. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report of cryopreservation of soil using a Stirling cycle cooling approach

The CAFA challenge reports improved protein function prediction and new functional annotations for hundreds of genes through experimental screens

The Critical Assessment of Functional Annotation (CAFA) is an ongoing, global, community-driven effort to evaluate and improve the computational annotation of protein function. Here we report on the results of the third CAFA challenge, CAFA3, that featured an expanded analysis over the previous CAFA rounds, both in terms of volume of data analyzed and the types of analysis performed. In a novel and major new development, computational predictions and assessment goals drove some of the experimental assays, resulting in new functional annotations for more than 1000 genes. Specifically, we performed experimental whole-genome mutation screening in Candida albicans and Pseudomonas aureginosa genomes, which provided us with genome-wide experimental data for genes associated with biofilm formation and motility P. aureginosa only). We further performed targeted assays on selected genes in Drosophila melanogaster, which we suspected of being involved in long-term memory. We conclude that, while predictions of the molecular function and biological process annotations have slightly improved over time, those of the cellular component have not. Term-centric prediction of experimental annotations remains equally challenging; although the performance of the top methods is significantly better than expectations set by baseline methods in C. albicans and D. melanogaster, it leaves considerable room and need for improvement. We finally report that the CAFA community now involves a broad range of participants with expertise in bioinformatics, biological experimentation, biocuration, and bio-ontologies, working together to improve functional annotation, computational functio

Evidence synthesis as the key to more coherent and efficient research

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Systematic review and meta-analysis currently underpin much of evidence-based medicine. Such methodologies bring order to <it>previous </it>research, but <it>future </it>research planning remains relatively incoherent and inefficient.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To outline a framework for evaluation of health interventions, aimed at increasing coherence and efficiency through i) making better use of information contained within the existing evidence-base when designing future studies; and ii) maximising the information available and thus potentially reducing the need for future studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The framework presented insists that an up-to-date meta-analysis of existing randomised controlled trials (RCTs) should always be considered before future trials are conducted. Such a meta-analysis should inform critical design issues such as sample size determination. The contexts in which the use of individual patient data meta-analysis and mixed treatment comparisons modelling may be beneficial before further RCTs are conducted are considered. Consideration should also be given to how any newly planned RCTs would contribute to the totality of evidence through its incorporation into an updated meta-analysis. We illustrate how new RCTs can have very low power to change inferences of an existing meta-analysis, particularly when between study heterogeneity is taken into consideration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While the collation of existing evidence as the basis for clinical practice is now routine, a more coherent and efficient approach to planning future RCTs to strengthen the evidence base needs to be developed. The framework presented is a proposal for how this situation can be improved.</p

Fungal planet description sheets: 951–1041

Novel species of fungi described in this study include those from various countries as follows: Antarctica , Apenidiella antarctica from permafrost, Cladosporium fildesense fromanunidentifiedmarinesponge. Argentina , Geastrum wrightii onhumusinmixedforest. Australia , Golovinomyces glandulariae on Glandularia aristigera, Neoanungitea eucalyptorum on leaves of Eucalyptus grandis, Teratosphaeria corymbiicola on leaves of Corymbia ficifolia, Xylaria eucalypti on leaves of Eucalyptus radiata. Brazil, Bovista psammophila on soil, Fusarium awaxy on rotten stalks of Zea mays, Geastrum lanuginosum on leaf litter covered soil, Hermetothecium mikaniae-micranthae (incl. Hermetothecium gen. nov.)on Mikania micrantha, Penicillium reconvexovelosoi in soil, Stagonosporopsis vannaccii from pod of Glycine max. British Virgin Isles , Lactifluus guanensis onsoil. Canada , Sorocybe oblongispora on resin of Picea rubens. Chile, Colletotrichum roseum on leaves of Lapageria rosea. China, Setophoma caverna fromcarbonatiteinKarstcave. Colombia , Lareunionomyces eucalypticola on leaves of Eucalyptus grandis. Costa Rica, Psathyrella pivae onwood. Cyprus , Clavulina iris oncalcareoussubstrate. France , Chromosera ambigua and Clavulina iris var. occidentalis onsoil. French West Indies , Helminthosphaeria hispidissima ondeadwood. Guatemala , Talaromyces guatemalensis insoil. Malaysia , Neotracylla pini (incl. Tracyllales ord. nov. and Neotra- cylla gen. nov.)and Vermiculariopsiella pini on needles of Pinus tecunumanii. New Zealand, Neoconiothyrium viticola on stems of Vitis vinifera, Parafenestella pittospori on Pittosporum tenuifolium, Pilidium novae-zelandiae on Phoenix sp. Pakistan , Russula quercus-floribundae onforestfloor. Portugal , Trichoderma aestuarinum from salinewater. Russia , Pluteus liliputianus on fallen branch of deciduous tree, Pluteus spurius on decaying deciduouswoodorsoil. South Africa , Alloconiothyrium encephalarti, Phyllosticta encephalarticola and Neothyrostroma encephalarti (incl. Neothyrostroma gen. nov.)onleavesof Encephalartos sp., Chalara eucalypticola on leaf spots of Eucalyptus grandis × urophylla, Clypeosphaeria oleae on leaves of Olea capensis, Cylindrocladiella postalofficium on leaf litter of Sideroxylon inerme , Cylindromonium eugeniicola (incl. Cylindromonium gen. nov.)onleaflitterof Eugenia capensis , Cyphellophora goniomatis on leaves of Gonioma kamassi , Nothodactylaria nephrolepidis (incl. Nothodactylaria gen. nov. and Nothodactylariaceae fam. nov.)onleavesof Nephrolepis exaltata , Falcocladium eucalypti and Gyrothrix eucalypti on leaves of Eucalyptus sp., Gyrothrix oleae on leaves of Olea capensis subsp. macrocarpa , Harzia metro sideri on leaf litter of Metrosideros sp., Hippopotamyces phragmitis (incl. Hippopota- myces gen. nov.)onleavesof Phragmites australis , Lectera philenopterae on Philenoptera violacea , Leptosillia mayteni on leaves of Maytenus heterophylla , Lithohypha aloicola and Neoplatysporoides aloes on leaves of Aloe sp., Millesimomyces rhoicissi (incl. Millesimomyces gen. nov.) on leaves of Rhoicissus digitata , Neodevriesia strelitziicola on leaf litter of Strelitzia nicolai , Neokirramyces syzygii (incl. Neokirramyces gen. nov.)onleafspots o

Sintesi di nuovi analoghi della Tizoxanide con potenziale attivita antivirale

Synthesis of molecules with potential antiviral activity with N-hydroxindolic structure, bioisosterically similar to Nitazoxanide, an antiparasitic drug used in the treatment of COVID-19 for pharmacological repositioning. Nitazoxanide is an in vivo deacetylated prodrug to the active metabolite, Tizoxanide. The proposed mechanism of action for Tizoxanide and, consequently, for the newly synthesized derivatives, targets the human enzyme ERp57, also known as PDIA3, a thiol-disulfide oxidoreductase which constitutes a fundamental step for the activation of the viral F protein, responsible for the fusion of the virus to host cells

New Media and Digital Art: Interactive Audiences

Invited lecture at a leading Beijing Art Museum, China, connected to CAFA University